Chapter 411: A

Through his clone, Lin Mo could clearly keep track of the situation over by Nuolun. After sparing it a bit of attention, he suddenly furrowed his brow, his expression turning serious. What a coincidence...

Right near Nuolun, a fairly substantial mass of Dark Tide power had just finished coalescing, reaching the Heroic Realm level.

For them fighting on the front lines, this was nothing special, but for those in the rear, it was already an extremely dangerous level.

Most of the high-end combat power was on their side right now, and the rest were either injured and unable to continue fighting. Over by the original barrier, after the Holy Son of the Church had canceled the barrier, the army had already begun its retreat.

Or rather, he had only canceled the barrier after the army had already retreated some distance.

Although they would still be chased by the goblin army afterward, the focus of the battlefield had shifted to the high-end fight overall, so there were basically no powerful individuals left among the pursuing goblin forces.

Those ordinary goblins weren't much of a threat to them, especially after the Gnome Emperor felt the pressure and concentrated all the Dark Tide power. Those goblins didn't even have any Dark Tide power left on them, to the point where the army even stopped retreating and fought back on the spot.

But now, although the Gnome Emperor and that massive surge of Dark Tide power had been sealed away by the Elven High Priest at the cost of his life, the deaths caused by the emperor's final command for the goblins to slaughter each other had generated a massive amount of new Dark Tide. That was extremely dangerous for them.

Nuolun's strength wasn't bad; she could be considered outstanding among the younger generation. And Shirleyas by her side was even stronger. But that was only compared to their peers. Their strength was somewhat insufficient when placed in such a massive battlefield.

Therefore, they had naturally been retreating with the army before, and now they, along with the army, had to face the threat of this newborn Dark Tide force.

Unfortunately, Nuolun's luck seemed to be poor, as she happened to encounter a relatively large and concentrated mass of Dark Tide.

This Dark Tide force had possessed a Gold Goblin, forcibly elevating it from below even the Transcendent Level all the way to the Heroic Realm.

Moreover, unlike special tiers like the Legendary Level, the Heroic Realm didn't have a domain, something unique to powerhouses at that level. There was essentially no real difference between a Heroic Realm entity created by Dark Tide power and a true Heroic Realm powerhouse, aside from its comparatively fragile physical body.

And because the frontline battle situation was too urgent, the family members originally tasked with protecting Nuolun had already joined the earlier high-end fight along with the main force.

So right now, no one was protecting Nuolun... Well, technically there was: Shirleyas and that Dragon-blooded Griffin from before.

But that Dragon-blooded Griffin, which had once ruled the roost in the Doria Kingdom, was ultimately just a peak Transcendent-Level magical creature.

Though not far from the Heroic Realm, it was clearly still far from enough against a true Heroic Realm entity.

The moment it sensed its master was in danger, the Dragon-blooded Griffin had already appeared on the scene and even took the initiative to attack the "Gold Goblin" approaching them.

But...

The Gold Goblin, surrounded by Dark Tide power, merely waved its hand casually, and a jet-black force, feeling incredibly chaotic and terrifying, easily sent the griffin flying backward.

The next moment, the "Gold Goblin's" figure vanished abruptly.

Nuolun was startled. The many young elites from various forces around her also tensed up at this eerie sight.

In the blink of an eye, that "Gold Goblin" reappeared, having somehow gotten right behind them, just a few meters away!

"Damn!"

These young people were all geniuses from their respective places. Despite their shock, they instinctively launched attacks.

But their attacks landed on the "Gold Goblin" without causing even a ripple, completely absorbed by the strange black mist enveloping its body.

Then, it raised its hand, and wisps of black mist formed into a palm, lunging toward the crowd. The first one in its path was Nuolun!

"Nuolun!"

Shirleyas panicked instantly, even forgetting her formal address as she called out her name, then quickly stepped in front of her, pushing her away.

But against this monster's strength, that really didn't do much. Without someone to stop it, it was just a matter of sooner or later.

"Shirleyas..."

Nuolun was a magic-oriented professional, a bit slower in speed, but her high Spirit attribute kept her thoughts sharp enough.

So all she could do was watch helplessly as Shirleyas appeared before her, pushing her away, while that black palm was about to land on Shirleyas.

"SHIRLEYAS!!!"

Her scream echoed through the air at what should have been the moment of Shirleyas's death.

But...

A figure appeared before her completely out of nowhere.

His frame didn't look sturdy; it was actually a bit lean, wearing a set of Mage Robes... This was the person Nuolun had once "loathed" because of Finnie's connection, and now felt conflicted about, appearing before her again.

This time, his back seemed so tall, so reliable.

That Heroic Realm "Gold Goblin's" attack was blocked almost effortlessly by him.

In truth, what was blocking the goblin's attack wasn't Lin Mo's main body, but his clone.

After the skill had advanced to Legendary Level, becoming Shadow Split, Lin Mo's clone could now fully inherit 100% of his stats. It just couldn't use skills from professions other than Assassin. And with Lin Mo's current stats, he didn't even need any skills to crush this barely Heroic Realm monster; raw stats alone were enough for an easy stomp.

Of course, even though the clone could handle it, Lin Mo still mentally swapped positions with the clone after noticing what was going on here.

By the time he turned around to face Nuolun and Shirleyas behind him, it was his main body.

"Are you two okay?"

He spoke while casually throwing a backhanded punch without even looking, sending the enraged "Gold Goblin" flying away after its failed attack.

"I..."

Nuolun snapped back to reality at his voice, stammering for a moment: "...I'm fine."

After saying that, she was silent for two seconds, as if feeling something was off, then slowly looked up and glanced at Lin Mo. Seeing his faintly amused expression, her face instantly turned awkward.

Though her personality was quite tsundere, the etiquette classes she'd taken since childhood and the values her family had instilled in her still made it clear she should properly thank him now.

"...Thanks."

"Oh? What did you say?"

Lin Mo grinned mischievously: "I don't think I heard that."

Nuolun gritted her teeth but spoke again: "I said... thank you for saving us."

"Huh? Oh man, what's with this place? Isn't it only just the start of spring? Where did this mosquito come from, buzzing around..."

"You!"

Nuolun immediately flared up, unable to maintain her politeness any longer: "Go to hell!"

"Ahh, that's more like it."

Lin Mo wore an expression of comfort: "That's the Nuolun I remember. The way you were hesitating just now was really off-putting."

"Hmph..."

Nuolun gave a light snort, but since she'd just been rescued, she didn't follow up with any harsh words.

But at that moment, Lin Mo suddenly held up three fingers: "However... this is our third encounter, isn't it, Little Nuolun?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Nuolun's expression changed instantly.

With the battlefield's shifting circumstances and the sudden danger, she'd temporarily forgotten about that.

She had already agreed before that if they ran into each other three times on the battlefield, she would obediently follow her family's, her mother's "orders"...

"Th... Three times? What three times?"

Although she didn't actually intend to back out, her inherent personality was hard to change. So Nuolun still turned her head away, muttering somewhat guiltily.

Watching the increasingly flushed face of the tsundere girl before him, Lin Mo's mischievous delight only grew.

"Oh my, Miss Noren is the future heir of the Oxivis Family, isn't she? A family this big can't just go back on its word, can it?"

As he spoke, he flicked a ball of light behind him. The "Gold Goblin," which he'd just sent flying a great distance and had only just managed to come back, was hit head-on by this Holy Light power. The Dark Tide aura on its body immediately dimmed.

Although Lin Mo had only just exhausted his Holy Light power not long ago, and the amount he could recover in such a short time was very limited, it was still enough to handle Dark Tide that had just barely reached the Heroic Realm level.

This attack didn't completely purify the Dark Tide clinging to this goblin, but it got rid of most of it. The remaining Dark Tide power could only elevate its strength to around the mid-Transcendent Level.

After recovering a bit more, he could finish it off with another one.

But Nuolun no longer had the energy to pay attention to these matters. She lowered her head, looking very flustered. Honestly, when she had made that agreement with Lin Mo, she had never even considered what would happen if she lost.

After all, for Nuolun, throughout her entire growth, she had basically never lost.

So she had subconsciously never thought she would fail when doing things. But soon after making that agreement, she gradually realized that this time seemed different from the past. She really might lose.

And the possibility wasn't low...

Especially after encountering Lin Mo "coincidentally" twice in a row, Nuolun was already very panicked inside but still clung to her last shred of wishful thinking. She had thought about what would happen if he bumped into her again, but she always subconsciously avoided thinking about it fully, still believing she wouldn't lose.

But now, the facts were right in front of her, undeniable.

They had indeed had a third encounter, and this time it was so special, so crucial...

Lin Mo was right. As the heir of the Oxivis Family and its future head, whether for her own sake or her family's honor, there was no way she could renege at a time like this.

So after struggling for a while, Nuolun finally let her clenched fists fall limply: "Fine, you big pervert got your way. I bet you're just going to take me and Sister Finnie later... and then Shirleyas too..."

Her little mouth kept chattering, and in no time, she spat out a string of words that included who knows how many explicit terms.

Lin Mo was stunned.

To be fair, he really hadn't thought that far ahead.

Although he wouldn't deny that some of it was possible... but having such shameless words come straight out of Nuolun's mouth was really...

She was way too pent up.

To be fair, even Ellie wasn't that "crude."

This made Lin Mo think of a certain "theory."

Those seemingly prim and proper "good girls," raised strictly by their parents, were actually the ones who craved rebellion the most deep down, and when they did rebel, they went all out.

Although Nuolun was a bit tsundere, overall, she had indeed been developing step by step within the framework laid out by the Oxivis Family and Madam Oxivis. So she could be considered a "good girl."

This generalization wasn't necessarily correct, but it did have some truth.

It was the classic case of "extremes begetting opposites." Constantly bound by all sorts of rules and regulations and controlled by all kinds of demands, these girls appeared obedient on the surface, but deep down, they were very repressed.

It was just that this repression didn't show on a daily basis, so outsiders, even their parents, didn't see it.

But not seeing it didn't mean it didn't exist. And the more hidden it was, the more this repression grew through self-concealment day by day, until they met a "delinquent"...

So now, he was the "delinquent"?

Lin Mo scratched his head. To be fair, from the perspective of a parent, like Madam Oxivis, he probably didn't belong to the "delinquent" camp at all. He was more in the "high-quality son-in-law" category, right?

Similarly, in the eyes of a "good girl" like Nuolun, he should belong on the same side as the parents, the "oppressor," the representative of rules and dogma...

Well, even though they had only met a few times, in Nuolun's eyes, he really didn't fit that image at all.

After all, which "high-quality guy" would have such a big flock of beauties by his side?

And he would tease her from time to time... That wasn't something a honest, rule-abiding "high-quality guy" would do.

Stepping back, the first time Nuolun had learned about him was when he appeared as her sister Finnie's fiancé. So for Nuolun, who clearly had a bit of a "sister complex," from that moment on, Lin Mo's image in her heart had already been that of a standard "delinquent."

So between him and Nuolun, was this really a story about a delinquent taming a tsundere good girl?